Choosing the Right Aluminium Wire Gauge: Sizing and Selection Made Easy

Manufacturers use a variety of criteria, such as the wire’s potential applications and the total cost of the project, while building a custom wire harness that helps them select the ideal wire. Since wires come in a wide choice of widths, the diameter or cross-sectional area of a wire is measured using wire “gauges”. This establishes a wire’s resistance, weight per unit of length, design expenses, and maximum current capacity. When working on an electrical project, understanding the aluminium wire gauge is essential for evaluating the ampacity of your wires or what amount of electric current a wire is capable of carrying without being harmed.

What are Wire Gauges?

A wire gauge is the measurement of the diameter of the wire. The diameter of a wire specifies the amount of amperes (amps) it can carry while not overheating. If a wire overheats, its insulation may melt away, resulting in a fire.

The most commonly used equipment for wire sizing is a conventional round gauge tool. To gauge a wire, strip it and consider fitting it into the marked grooves that are equivalent in size to it. The wire should be able to flow through to the hole that needs to be closed while still fitting inside the proper size. The gauge size written is going to be the number that corresponds with the groove it fits into, which is followed by “AWG.”

Wires are assigned an AWG number by the AWG system that governs their cross-sectional area. Since a gauge wire with a lower number has a bigger diameter, it can support the highest currents.

Industry professionals can easily figure out whether a wire is suitable for a certain application by determining its gauge, as a wire’s thickness directly affects its electrical properties, like resistance and load-carrying capacity. Additionally, this information can be successfully shared between other parties, such as between consumers and manufacturers for wire selection.

Applications for Different Wire Gauges

The following are the applications of the different wire gauges:

Rate Ampacity	Wire Gauge	Wire Use
10 amps	18 AWG	Doorbells, thermostats, and other low-voltage applications.
13 amps	16 AWG	Light-duty extension cords.
15 amps	14 AWG	Outlets for the office, bedroom, and lighting circuits.
20 amps	12 AWG	Outlets in restrooms, kitchens, and other spaces where appliances consume higher current.
30 amps	10 AWG	Electric water heaters, electric clothes dryers, and occasionally cooktops and wall ovens powered by 240 volts.
40-50 amps	6 AWG	Kitchen cooktops and ranges.
60 amps	4 AWG	Large electric heaters, electric furnaces.

Factors Associated with Aluminium Wire Gauge

Certain factors associated with wire gauges are as follows:

• Diameter: The numbers on a wire gauge go from low to high; lower values indicate smaller diameters and higher values indicate larger diameters.
• Foot-per-pound: The term “foot per pound” describes how many feet of wire are required to weigh one pound.
• Area: Round wires’ cross-sectional area can be computed using the formula A= πr2, where r is half the diameter. The cross-sectional area of the wire doubles every three levels it lowers.
• Resistance: The length and thickness of a wire determine its electrical resistance. In comparison to shorter wires, longer wires offer more resistance. The thicker wire would have less resistance than the thinner wire when two wires of the same length are used.
• Current Capacity: The maximum safe current that a wire is capable of carrying is determined by its current capacity. Lower gauge wires can hold larger numbers of electrons than higher gauge wires because they are thicker.

Aluminium Gauge Chart

AWG	Diameter (in inches)	Diameter (in mm)	Cross-sectional area (in mm2)	Max current (amps)
0000 (4/0)	0.46	11.684	107	302
000 (3/0)	0.4096	10.40384	84.9	239
00 (2/0)	0.3648	9.26592	67.4	190
0 (1/0)	0.3249	8.25246	53.5	150
1	0.2893	7.34822	42.4	119
2	0.2576	6.54304	33.6	94
3	0.2294	5.82676	26.7	75
4	0.2043	5.18922	21.1	60
5	0.1819	4.62026	16.8	47
6	0.162	4.1148	13.3	37
7	0.1443	3.66522	10.6	30
8	0.1285	3.2639	8.37	24
9	0.1144	2.90576	6.63	19
10	0.1019	2.58826	5.26	15
11	0.0907	2.30378	4.17	12
12	0.0808	2.05232	3.31	9.3
13	0.072	1.8288	2.63	7.4
14	0.0641	1.62814	2.08	5.9
15	0.0571	1.45034	1.65	4.7
16	0.0508	1.29032	1.31	3.7
17	0.0453	1.15062	1.04	2.9
18	0.0403	1.02362	0.823	2.3
19	0.0359	0.91186	0.653	1.8
20	0.032	0.8128	0.519	1.5
21	0.0285	0.7239	0.412	1.2
22	0.0253	0.64516	0.327	0.92
23	0.0226	0.57404	0.259	0.729
24	0.0201	0.51054	0.205	0.577
25	0.0179	0.45466	0.162	0.457
26	0.0159	0.40386	0.128	0.361
27	0.0142	0.36068	0.102	0.288
28	0.0126	0.32004	0.080	0.226
29	0.0113	0.28702	0.0647	0.182
30	0.01	0.254	0.0507	0.142
31	0.0089	0.22606	0.0401	0.113
32	0.008	0.2032	0.0324	0.091
Metric 2.0	0.00787	0.200	0.0314	0.088
33	0.0071	0.18034	0.0255	0.072
Metric 1.8	0.00709	0.180	0.0254	0.072
34	0.0063	0.16002	0.0201	0.056
Metric 1.6	0.0063	0.16002	0.0201	0.056
35	0.0056	0.14224	0.0159	0.044
Metric 1.4	.00551	.140	0.0154	0.043
36	0.005	0.127	0.0127	0.035
Metric 1.25	.00492	0.125	0.0123	0.034
37	0.0045	0.1143	0.0103	0.0289
Metric 1.12	.00441	0.112	0.00985	0.0277
38	0.004	0.1016	0.00811	0.0228
Metric 1	.00394	0.1000	0.00785	0.0225
39	0.0035	0.0889	0.00621	0.0175
40	0.0031	0.07874	0.00487	0.0137

Wire Gauge Selection with L&T SuFin

Choosing the appropriate wire gauge is essential to the outcome of your electrical installation. We at L&T-SuFin have a vast inventory of the best-quality products. It is a well-known online e-commerce platform that links reputable Indian suppliers of office supplies, machines, construction supplies, and electrical supplies. With our first-rate features, which include full or partial deliveries across 21,000+ codes, KYC-verified suppliers and buyers and round-the-clock client support, you can be confident that our products will be of the highest caliber for your projects. Want to fulfil urgent aluminium wire gauge needs for your upcoming project? Check out our ‘Request for Quote’ option!